THE Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) is refining the guidelines on the bilateral recognition of bird flu regionalization to ensure the safe delivery of imported poultry into the Philippines amid ongoing outbreaks in exporting countries.
The BAI is currently soliciting position papers and comments on the draft guidelines on recognizing the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) regionalization from concerned industry stakeholders until March 3.
Under this arrangement, the trade of agricultural products is allowed from designated regions that are free from the animal disease instead of imposing a country-wide import ban.
“The said draft guideline is aimed to ensure the safe trade of poultry (such as day-old chicks, parent stocks) during occurrences of HPAI from exporting countries,” the BAI’s advisory read.
The BAI said it has practiced the concept of zoning or regionalization for the local movement of poultry and poultry products from bird flu-free areas.
The draft circular covers an accredited country’s application for the recognition of HPAI regionalization, allowing the export of live animals and their products, including meat, into the Philippines.
It said the demand for poultry products, such as day-old chicks, premium-cut poultry meat, and eggs, is expected to grow due to the projected increase in the world’s population.
“The worldwide yearly occurrence of [HPAI] can impact global food security by affecting the poultry industry and restrict the international trader of live birds and poultry meat, and in turn affect prices and impact national economies,” the proposed policy said.
It added: “The occurrence of HPAI from exporting countries and the imposition of a whole country temporary ban limits the sources of day-old chicks, parent stocks and poultry meat, which in turn affects the prices.
The draft policy is slightly different from Memorandum Order No. 22 issued by the BAI in 2023 for the same purpose, meant to facilitate the shipment of imported poultry while preventing the spread of avian influenza.
Chicken imports comprised 32.6 percent of the 1.5 billion kilograms of imported meat that entered the country in 2024, based on the data from the BAI.
Brazil is the country’s leading chicken exporter, accounting for more than 50 percent of the 472.2 million kilograms of imported chicken, followed by the United States with over 33 percent and Poland with 5 percent. (Jordeene B. Lagare © Philippine Daily Inquirer)
